Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/767

Rh being carried away. From the 12th to the 17th of September the Englishmen laid in a store of fowl and seal meat on the little island of San Andrés, arriving on the 24th at Mazatlan.

Having obtained "good fruites, though not without danger," they repaired the vessels on the small island just north of Mazatlan. Here, digging in the sand, they obtained water "by the assistance of God in that our great neede . . . otherwise wee had gon backe 20 or 30 leagues to water; which might have bene occasion that we might haue missed our prey wee had long wayted for." Poor indeed must he be who has not a god according to his purposes! Here the operations of Cavendish were watched by a party of Spanish horsemen from the main, who were supposed to have come from Chametla, some eleven leagues distant. On the 9th of October the fleet left the island and bore across to San Lúcas, arriving on the 14th, and watering at a river which flowed into the Aguada Segura, since known as the bay of San Bernabé, or Puerto del Cabo. It was time the galleon should be coming; ah, what a rare robbery it would be!

The vessel lay off and on till the 4th of November, when early in the morning the cry, A sail! was heard from the mast-head. It was indeed the galleon, the Santa Ana of seven hundred tons, captain Tomás de Alzola, from the Philippines bound for Acapulco, and having on board 122,000 pesos in gold, besides a rich cargo of silks and other Asiatic goods. O rare and righteous luck! Let now both sides pray, and God defend the right!

The stupid Spaniard seems never to have suspected anything wrong, for he came lazily along through the tranquil waters, thankful that the long voyage was at last over; thankful for the rich results, that would